2005
Chardonnay, Ashley’s
Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills, Fess Parker, 14.6%
The Ashley’s Vineyard is a 620 acre ranch, named after Fess
Parker’s daughter,
and lies just 14 miles from the Pacific Ocean, which makes it the
western-most
vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills appellation.
By grape growing standards, Ashley’s Vineyard is
particularly cold: its
190 acres are planted mainly with pinot noir, but also with some
chardonnay (15
acres), pinot blanc (13 acres) and pinot gris (12 acres).
A really lemon zesty, über minerally nose.
Quite a zing of lemon and apples flavours on the attack. This is really open and
attractive on the
palate, with a nice fragrance. Good
balance and great length. Very
Good
Indeed. 91/100
2005 Viognier
Rodney’s Vineyard,
Santa Barbara County, Fess Parker, 14.9%
Rodney’s Vineyard is the estate vineyard at Fess Parker, and
is named after
Fess Parker’s late son-in-law, Rodney Shull: it extends to
some 118 acres,
planted more or less equally with syrah, viognier and chardonnay, with
12 acres
of petite sirah and 8 acres of grenache.
224 cases were produced of this wine, which was barrel
fermented and
then aged in stainless steel for six months, before going into French
oak for a
further six months.
It has a very floral nose with huge minerality.
Lovely palate, with very good balance and a nice level of
acidity to cut
the intensity of the fruit. Super
length. Pretty
impressive. Very
Good Indeed. 90/100
2005 White
riesling, Santa Barbara
County, Fess Parker,
12.5%
The fruit for this comes from a variety of sources: 44% from the Camp 4
vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley, 21% from the Rodney’s
Vineyard, 19% from
Scheid Vineyard, 15% Rancho Sisquoc, 9% Mission Meadows and 3% from the
Koehler
Vineyard. It is
entirely fermented and
aged in stainless steel. 14,407
cases
were produced.
It has a floral, limey nose, with some lychee fruit.
It’s a touch sweet on the palate
(there’s
3.39% residual sugar), which rather hides any elegance it might have. The riesling character,
however, does come
through, especially on the finish.
Good/Very Good. 83/100
2005 Pinot
Noir Santa Barbara
County, 15.2%
The fruit for this comes mainly from the Ashley’s Vineyard in
the Santa Rita
Hills, with 26% coming from the Bien Nacido Vineyard and 1% from the
Byron
Vineyard, both up in the Santa Maria Valley.
The wine was aged for eleven months in one-third new
French oak. 16,664
cases were produced.
It has elegant red fruits on the nose with the merest hint of sous bois. Good, characterful attack. There’s nice
balance. This is
very attractive with a nice gentle structure,
but it has a masculine feel overall.
Fairly impressive. Very
Good
Indeed. 90/100
2003 Syrah,
Santa Barbara County,
Fess Parker,
15.6%
This is 90% syrah, 75 petite sirah and 3% viognier.
42% of the fruit came from the Rodney’s
Vineyard; the bulk of the remainder from various vineyards in the Santa
Ynez
Valley, with 8% from the French Camp Vineyard in Paso Robles and 7%
from
Marcella’s Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley.
It was aged for 20 months in 30% new French oak. 5064 cases were produced.
This has elegant black fruit on the nose, which is also quite gamey
with some
bresaola notes. A
good, elegant palate,
and it carries the alcohol exceedingly well, with no noticeable heat:
instead
there’s a very nice balance.
Impressive. Very
Good
Indeed. 92/100
2002 Syrah
Mackie’s Blend, Central
Coast, Fess Parker,
14.9%
This is 100% syrah, mainly from the Rodney’s, Hampton and
Camp 4 vineyards in
the Santa Ynez Valley, 10% from Marcella’s Vineyard in Santa
Maria Valley and
6% from the French Camp Vineyard in Paso Robles.
Aged for 26 months in 1/3 new French oak; 625
cases were produced.
It has quite a fragrant nose, with some meaty chocolate notes. Very deep on the palate:
quite full with a
pretty big tannic structure. It
seems
more straightforward and less characterful than the Santa Barbara Syrah. Very Good.
87/100
NV
Traditions, Port Style Red
Wine, Santa Barbara County, Fess Parker, 18.9%
This is a blend of touriga nacional and tinta cao.
It has a black plummy nose with some figs,
prunes and a hint of chocolate. It’s
very velvety and caressing in the mouth, with a nice balance of light
fruit and
the sweetness. Some
spirit becomes
evident towards the finish. Pretty
impressive. 89/100
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Last updated: 3 January 2008